New Berlin
by Todne
Summary: It's just like New Little Odessa. Only instead of city 17, they live next to the most important city under Combine controll, City 21. NEW: Chapter 5. PS, is it me or is this story the only one on the page that hasn't gotten a review yet? Please Review
1. Chapter 1: Introduction

**NEW BERLIN**

Chapter 1: Introduction

The rebel outpost of New Berlin is checkpoint and rest stop for Citizens escaping City 21 to the rebel town of Duneburg. The Northern European version of New Little Odessa, only instead of city 17, New Berlin has city 21 located right in the middle of the Rhineland. The Rhineland is the most resource rich place around. That combined with the pre-Combine factories it has become the prime spot for them to build a modern day ghetto. And if you think the guys at N.L.O had it rough, try living next to the most important cog in the Combine war machine

The risks with being a rebel in this general area are extremely high. City 21 supplies the entire Combine Empire with weapons and supplies. This and it has an even higher amount of military presence then even city 17, the Combine capital. The rebel outpost of New Berlin is under constant barrage from air raids and even the occasional "experimental" weapon. Life expectancy for Rebels in City 4, the smallest military city, is three months. Those in City 17 is one month, one week, and 4 days. Rebels in City 21… About two weeks.


	2. Chapter 2: Reasons

Chapter 1: Reasons

"What is you're name citizen?" said the elite coldly_. "What is your name!"_

"Scott! My name is Scott H. Stark!"

"What were you doing in Processing Plant 026?"

"I told you, a guard told me to follow him and then he ditched me" The elite slapped him hard across the face "_AHHH! Damn-it"_

"_WHAT WERE YOU DOING THERE!"_

"I was on a sabotage mission, I was going to blow the plant up!"

"… Prep his body for processing, send him to Copenhagen, his physical form will make an exceptional shirker"

20 minuets later he was on a train to the Copenhagen Processing Plant. Being stored on a Combine prisoner transport is about as bad as it is comfortable. Not very. You could feel what the train was traveling in. right now he thought his was passing through the Rhineland. Suddenly the train lurched forward and tilted on its side. Scott's personal prisoner transport was flung to the ground. His exposed head slammed onto the floor. His vision went black, and he felt like he was drowning in a pool of warm sticky water.

"_Hey, he's waking up…" _Scott sat up in the cot; he shivered and pulled the blanket closer. That's when he noticed he was naked…

"_What the!"_

"For someone who's been out for the last 27 hours you're sure energetic." Said the lady with a cross on her arm.

"Who are you?"

"Me, I'm Karen Mayfield."

"And you're the medic here?"

"_No, the cross on my arm is just for show"_

"Right… can I have my cloths back?"

"Nah, I like you better naked."

"_What!"_

"I'm just kidding, here ya' go." Scott slips his cloths on under the sheets.

"Can you walk" Scott jumps out of the cot and walks around.

"Ya know what, I think I can."

"Good, now we don't have to send you to headquarters"

"…what?"

"All Rebel soldiers unable to walk are to be sent directly to headquarters, and since you can walk, you can stay here and help us,"

"Hold on there, I'm no soldier, not any more."

"If your not a soldier then what were you doing on that train."

"…"

"Well?"

"(Sigh) It all started 2 weeks ago…"


	3. Chapter 3: Hell and High Water

Chapter 3: Hell _and_ High Water

_It all started 2 weeks ago; I was the Demo expert in an elite sabotage squad. We were on a mission to destroy a strider construction plant. We got in and got out without a hitch. It was too easy. The Combine had known we were coming, they set up an ambush. We were coming out of the plant and were about to detonate the bomb when they struck. The squad of ten was turned to a 3-man group just like that… The rest of us… we just ran. I ran into the nearest civilian building and ran straight to the roof. There I jumped from building to building until I was out of sight of the ambush. _

_I stayed in the squad base for 3 days… when no one showed up, I gave up. I grabbed a mini-nuke det. Pack and I headed to the nearest Combine processing plant to do one, last mission… I got in, fought my way through 12 CPs, and prepped the bomb. I turned my back to it and got out the detonator, and pressed the button… but nothing happened. I turned around to see a group of Overwatch. I panicked, I ran. They chased after me until I got to the edge of the city._

_There I actually managed to jack a Combine half-track, and while I was escaping into the woods I was hit by a strider bomb. By the time the recovery team got to car, I was long gone. Unfortunately I had nowhere to go. The Combine knew my face, they knew who I was and would be looking for me. So I picked a direction, north, and walked._

_This is where I saw things, horrible things. The weapons the Combine used during the Seven Hours War did something… something to the bodies. When the maggots came to eat it, they became infected; everything the bodies touched became infected. And everything that was infected, died. And without maggots the bodies didn't decompose._

_Now there was and "exception" to this…Headcrabs… The headcrabs were immune to the infection, and without the Combine there keeping them under control… well lets just say it was a hell there. I tried to spend the night in a cabin, but there wasn't a place I could hide from the zombies. The whole forest was a major battleground for the Seven Hours War; there were bodies everywhere and the crabs had taken advantage of this… god I can still hear them scream… _

_I wasn't the only one lost in the woods. I would often find fresh, dead bodies in the woods, and once I… I even heard a woman scream… I ran to her as fast as I could, all I got to see was a zombie… eating her dead body… that memory still haunts me…_

_Then one day I found an old army outpost. After Black Mesa, all the countries of the world started building up defenses, and lucky for me, this one was surrounded by walls. All I had to do is kill the zombies inside and I had a nice home… for a while, at least. Then the Combine did their "annual" training run… it was then I found out the "army" camp was actually a "Combine" camp. _

_They found me, identified me, and interrogated me. On a lighter note I didn't give in for 3 days of the Combines most brutal torture techniques. Afterwards they put me on a train to Copenhagen, on the way there, we were hit by a rocket, next thing I know, I'm naked in a strange place talking to you._

"That's quite a story, oh and by the way, it was actually a adhesive grenade."


	4. Chapter 4: Complications

Chapter 4: Complications

"That's quite an interesting story Scott," said the blond haired Brit standing in the doorway.

"Hey Joe. Scott this is Joe, Joe this is Scott"

"Nice to meet cha' Scotty."

"Please don't call me that… do I really have to stay here… I want to leave, soon…"

"Well it can't be 'now' soon, it's already midnight. But either way you seem to valuable a person to just let walk out."

"_Aww, come'on!"_

"I'll be back to talk about your employment when you're less emotional… See ya' later Rookie."

"(Sigh)"

"Well it could be worse," said Karen

"_How could it be worse!"_

"You could be in Copenhagen getting your brains drilled out."

"Good point."

Karen looks at her watch. "Well I gotta go do my shift, I'll be back in the morning, good night."

"…Good night…"

Three hours later Scott burst from his sleep in a cold sweet. "_God not again, I thought the nightmares would end after I got out of the woods. Maybe that's not why I'm having nightmares. Perhaps if I told someone… No! No one can know! I mean it's not like it's my fault they died." _Scott pulls his legs closer to his body._ "I didn't kill them, I didn't do anything! _

"That's exactly it, you didn't do anything." Scott fired his head to face the mysterious man. "Maybe if you _had_ done something they would still be alive." Scott struggled to see the mans face. All he could tell was that he was wearing a business suit. "I've been trying to write a 'job application' for you for some time now. But when I get to the part that addresses your 'history' I stop when I get to the ambush."

"Who are you?"

"Regardless you've still been very lucky. Coming in as 4th runner up."

"Runner up in what?"

"First place, Gordon Freeman. Second Place, Adrian Shepard. Third place, Barney Calhoun. Fourth place, Scott Stark. You just barley managed to beat Henry Hanson in fifth place."

"What are you talking about?"

"The world needs a hero Scott, and you're a runner up. I'm offering you a chance to become something of a Messiah to this dying planet. I will return in a few days when you have made your decision to join me. Until then, this is where I get off." Scott hadn't even noticed but he was standing in a dark void, the government type man turned to his left. A door seamed to open in front of him. He adjusted his tie and he stepped in. As he did another door popped up in front of Scott. On instinct he stepped in and found himself in the claustrophobic confines of the medical station…


	5. Chapter 5: Surprise Surprise

Chapter 5: Surprise Surprise

Scott woke up a few hours later lying on the floor. The light shinning through the window made it seem like it was about 9 in the morning. Scott didn't really know, he could hardly remember what had happened last night. He stood up and saw a newspaper on the table next to his bed. 'The Rebellion Tribune'. It's headline read 'Teleport nearing completion in City 17.'

"_Better not let the Combine get their hands on this"_

Scott read on at all the other articles headlines. City 6 has been isolated, the Safe Haven of New Zealand has been invaded, 'Gravity Guns' and Combat. Propaganda Today… Tragedy in City 15… Last week in City 15 an elite group of saboteurs were killed in an ambush. They were trying to destroy a strider construction plant when they were ambushed by the Overwatch and killed, of all 10 squad members only 2 survived. 8 of them were a confirmed KIA, but one, Scott Stark, is still MIA. The 2 other suvivers claim he was not killed and may me still alive. If you have any information about Scott H. Stark please contact the City 15 recruitment center.

Scott started shivering. _"Their still alive"_

"I thought I told Karen to burn that paper. If the Combine got their hand on that we would all die within a month."

Scott whirled around to see a Girl about mid 20s walking into the room

"Hi, I'm Jacqueline Carpenter, the leader here."

"I though… never mind"

"Follow me, lets get you out of those 'civilian' cloths and into something more military."

"Actually I'm a bit hungry"

"Too bad breakfast was an hour ago,"

"Aww…"

"Fine… here's a granola bar."

Jacqueline throws a granola bar at Scott's head. It bounces of and lands on the ground. They stand there staring at it.

"Umm…are you gonna-" Scott jumps on the ground and almost destroys the granola bar.

"Wow… how long has it been since you've eaten"?

"Well actually I ate yesterday but for the last 2 weeks I've had to live of Lunchables and Hot Pockets… Cold Hot Pockets"

"Oh you poor man…"

"You don't know the half of it…"

"Right… Well come on we got to get you a resistance outfit."

"Or maybe you can let me go?"

"You leave and I shoot you."

" 'Sob' "

With Jacqueline in the lead, she took Scott out the back door of the medical room. Scott nearly died when he saw the back door was adjacent to what must have been a 50 ft. cliff.

"HOLY CRAP!"

"Watch your step."

Scott looked up from the cliff and saw what must have city 21. It's Citadel reached up and beyond the cloud. Down below it were several skyscrapers and a few buildings that almost looked like the Citadel.

"Those small ones are the Combine factories. I use to work there."

Jacqueline handed him a pair of binoculars and said, " Look over there" and pointed to the right of the Citadel.

"Oh my God what city is that"?

"That's the Citadel of City 18. And if we could see a behind the Citadel here we could see City 17."

"Where's City 15?"

"Are you kidding'. City 15 is way down in the Swiss Alps."

"And where are we?"

"Are you serious? All right we are in Germany, City 17 is in the Chez. Republic. And Switzerland is maybe a hundred miles South."

"Would it be possible to get there?"

"There are 24 major Combine strongholds between here and there. Not to mention all the headcrabs."

Scott looks to the south.

"_If I got here, than I can get there."_


	6. Chapter 6: The Base

Authors Note: Ok I admit it; I hardly know anything about European geography. Just know City 17 is supposed to be east. I know this will cause a lot of problems for me in the future but just bear with me.

Sincerely

Todne (the author)

Chapter 6: The Base

It was 2 hours from breakfast and Jacqueline had finaly gotten Scott all equipped for combat and gave him the grand tour of the base. The base, New Berlin as its occupants called it, was right at the edge of the forest and nestled on the rim of a cliff. Life here was very hard. The cliff they were stationed on was part of a Combine major defence system. From the rim of the cliff you could see all of City 21 and, with good enough equipment, you could even see the citadel of City 18 and 17.

The Combine use it mostly as a huge airbase, but there are several outposts that are there just to keep the headcrabs under control. During the 7 hours war hundreds of people fled into the woods to try to 'avoid' the war… little did they know every place that wasn't under attack or already occupied was filled with headcrabs. And with all the resistance in the cities the Combine just didn't have the resources to go out and sweep the woods clean. And besides, the Headcrabs out there would make sure that anyone who got out of the city would never make it very far.

Jacqueline claims the Combine know we're here but they don't attack because we're basicly a 'free outpost' to them, we see more zombie action in one day than we do Combine all month.

As for the structure of the base, it couldn't be more ideal. The base was in the shape of a square, there were 3 seven-foot tall concrete walls around the North, West, and South sides, and the East side was acctualy where the edge of the cliff was. There were thee buildings and one tower. All the buildings were 2 stories tall and looked just like tiny apartment buildings. The tower must have been 4 stories tall and had a moveable pulse turret mounted on the side.

The 3 buildings served as a equiptment house, a recreation house, and a business house. There was only one way out of here and that was a gate that needed 2 people to open.

House House

(Equip) (Rec)

Tower Cliff

House

(Buiss)

As for his equiptment, all he got a new outfit, a pistol, and a hat.

"I'm suppose to hold off the entire Combine army with a pistol?"

"If we gave every new and untrained recruit our best weapons then we'd be bankrupt."

"But I'm not untrained! I served in the City 15 resistance."

"Oh really? Than what did you specialize in?"

Scott just stood there scilent.

"That's what I thought"

"Right… umm, could you show me to a bathroom?"

"Yeah, there's one right behind you."

"Thanks"

Scott went into the bathroom, sat on the toilet and put his hands in his pocket,

"_God… sooner or later someone's gonna find out what I did. You can't just run from a battle. I could get friggin court marshaled."_

"And then what would they do, throw you in jail?"

Scott bolted up to see who said that. And standing in front of the sink was the Government Man in his classic pen-stripe suit.

"What do you want?" Scott said irritably.

"Oh, don't be so hostile, I think we could help each other out."

Scott looked the G-man in the eyes and said, "I'm listening."


	7. Characters

Characters

Welcome to the characters page. This page was designed because I don't think I really described the characters very well. I'll try to update this as the story progresses but no guarantees.

SCOTT STARK- The main character in the novel. Black hair, blue eyes, and short hair. Very serious and secluded. His skills under pressure are unmatched even by the most elite Combine soldier.

KAREN MAYFIELD- She is the one who saves Scott at the beginning of the novel. Medium length blond hair and green eyes. She is the kindest person at New Berlin and maybe the most intelligent. This all kind of fits her considering she's New Berlins Medic.

JOE HARPER- Unlike Jacqueline, Joe is the one true leader of New Berlin. Short blond hair and bright blue eyes. He is one of the more talkative people, not afraid to let people know when he's pissed. He specialty is in close range combat; he's even got his own butterfly knife. PS almost every character in the story is American except for Joe, he is English. (And proud of it)

JORDEN STRUCT- if it weren't for the war Jorden would be walkin' down town covered in Tag body spray. Medium blond-brown hair, and dull green eyes. Spends most of his time trying to improve the overall living condition of New Berlin. His reason for being here is his speed; he can rush past and kill anyone before they even know it.

APRIL GERRALS: April is one of the most weirdest people in New Berlin. Long light brown hair, which often has a headband around it, and light brown eyes. In her down time she acts like a real girl, but on the field, she's the best demolitions expert in the entire resistance movement.

JORDAN CASE (J.C.): Jordan Case is… well… husky. Very short blond hair with brown eyes. Very …physical person. His tag is caring lot of ammo and using two pulse rifles at once.

SHAWN ATKINSON- Shaw is the butt of most jokes in New Berlin. Curly brown hair (_mullet)_ and deep brown eyes. Very American, often the leader of salvage groups and supply raids. That and his marksmen abilities are unmatched.

JACQUELINE CARPENTER- The self-appointed leader of New Berlin. Blond medium hair, with light blue eyes. Very similar to Joe (except for his Englishness). She's basically the leader because she can't do much else… except for engineering. She's real good at that…


End file.
